Frustrations Learning to Ride: Mental Block and *Really* Sore Knees?

Hello,

I am having a couple of really frustrating problems that I would like
some advice on.

I am trying to learn to unicycle on a Nimbus 24" with 125mm cranks. I
have had 7 practice sessions now, each of which ranges from about 45 to
90 minutes long, with most of them being about 1 hour long. I can mount
OK as long as I have someone or something on one side of me to hold
onto. Once mounted, if I am touching my husband's hand lightly -- only
our fingertips touching (so lightly that he couldn't actually provide
any physical support if he wanted to) -- I can ride as far as I want to,
including wobbling around turns, until my legs get tired. If I push off
on my own (without him walking next to me), or let go of his hand
completely, I will either fall immediately, or usually only get in 2-5
revolutions before I fall. Has anyone experienced a similar "mental
block" when learning? It's really frustrating because 1) it is
beginning to feel like my progress is very, very slow, and 2) I know
that I *can* do it, I just somehow panic when I don't have
anyone/anything beside me.

Regarding the sore knees: After doing some searching, I have come to
the conclusion that this is a fairly common problem, but I have tried
all of the suggestions that I found and I am still having no luck.
Around my second practice I noticed that my knees were sore. This has
really only continued to get worse. Now when I practice unicycling,
they are so sore that I actually have trouble walking up and down stairs
the next day! The residual soreness lasts for at least 2-3 days
afterwards! This is also slowing down my progress because I can only
practice 2-3 times a week. I don't have any pre-existing knee problems
and I have run on a regular basis (an average of about 10 miles a week)
for some time now without having any knee pain. I know a common
suggestion is to raise the seat, but my seat is already as high as I can
get it and still have my legs slightly bent when the pedals are all the
way down. I'm not sure what else to try? Would longer cranks help? I
try putting as much of my weight on the seat as I can, but I am still
learning so I don't have very good control and I end up relying on my
legs a lot for helping me correct and stay balanced.

I would appreciate any advice whatsoever -- I'm really frustrated!

Cheers


--
natosha
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